Disconnectible coupling device



May 17, 1949.v

N. B. MURPHY DISCONNECTIBLE COUPLING DEVICE Filed Jan. 30, 1946 wv N N f, Q MMWN\\ o m m o M m .m .nvm m m NN J .,N m i 8 INVENTOR NHMIN B. MURPHY aww? ' ATTORN EY Patented May 17, 1949 AU N Y[TED ySIENTES PATENT OFFICE DISCGNNECTJZBLE COUBLING DEVICE Norman B. Murphy, West Englewood, IN. 'J., as-

signor to Bendix Aviation Corporation, Teter- `boro, 'N J., a corporation of "Delaware Aippliicationlanuary 30, 1f946Serial No. 644;.223

(Cl. 7i-'785) 4 Claims. 1

4This .intention relates to disconnect apparatus fgenerallyand moraparticu-larly toa-remotely controlled :disconnect for reconnect apparatus.

With the provision of :automatic :steering :systems on .air or :other cratt :it became :necessary to provide emergency :disconnect :devices so `:that .the driving connection fbetween-ithe servo motors and Ktheir ycontrol surfaces could be broken :at will Iin case .of some .failure :in athiesystem aso .that manual vcontrol .offthesunfacesould be readily taken lover .by the human pilot. Devices v.to this ,end genorallyrare adapted lfor :a disconnecting 'operation :but because of `their inaccessibilty :in

.'ight, i. e., becausesof their` location with .theservo motors .at -orsnear .the control surfaces they nan- .not .be reconnected in i-ghtfsuchoperationfheing .possible .onlyater the y-loraift has landed. 'This disadvantage is 'readily overcome b y :the .novel apparatus ofthe present invention.

An objectoilthe present invention'ftheneforeiis 2 'to provide .anovel deviceffor .connecting .Lor ldisconnecting a .driven member to for from :a driving member.

Another xcbject .of .the invention .is .to provide a novel .reconnectable disconnect device for use Vin connection .with an `automata:steering system 'for air or other craft.

.A further `object .is togprovide 1a Anovel and remotel-y controlled.connectingrdevicefor .establishing or terminatinga .driving connection between a driven .memberand .a driving member.

Another biectis .toprovideia :novelidevice for establishing a driving `.connection between a driven memberandadrivingmember in the :form of Vplanet .gears which .ride .cna locked internally toothed gear. andare. driven-by the .idrivingmem- .ber *to establish.a.drivablenonnectionibetweenzthe 'driving andiiriven members and whichfmesh with and drive lthe .internally ntoothed gear when :the latter 'is unlocked to :thereby break -thedriving 'connection'between .thedrivinfg -and.-.driven.mem bers.

The aboveand further objects randLnovel features of the.' invention .will :appear lmorefullyzfrom the following .detaileddescription when ithe'sam'e is read .in Aconnection ,with the accompanying drawing. It -is :.to .be yexpressly understood :nowever, that .the .drawing isfonthepurposezzof illustration only and is notintendedasza deniticn o'f "the 'Jlimits .of .the invention.

4The single figureiof the drawingmonstitutesa side eleva-tion viewwin sectionof v.the:novelfernergen'cy reconneotable .disconnect-device ,of Lthezpreserlt invention.

lAs more clearly shown in the drawing, element lo represents .a pulley .or driven .member `adapted for accommodating .in .its peripheral grooves LI a suitable cable `(not shown) arranged between the pilots manual control and the craft surface vto be .actua-ted. Pulley l0, moreover, is .i'lxed or .splinedito va .suitably journalled shaft l2 which extends into a xed `casing 4,or .housing i3.

'llhe free :end vof -shaf-t `l2 :located `Within.-110.116- ing L3 :has ,fastened thereto azframe :|14 which eat its outeriends journals twostub :shafts I5 and 1:6

.adapted .for :carrying ,a Ipair -rof planetggears and .I8 thereon .for .rotationfrelatrve thereto, the two v gears .being spaced `from-each.otherfand `from frame :I4 l.to .be driven Ybya spur gear +9 Vcarnied by. ashaf-tzll in .turnfsupports a relativen large .gear '2| constituting .a portion of a speed rreductlore-gearsystem 22 drifvenibyfa driving'mem- Aber .in Ithe form of .aservo ,motor :23.

Furthermore, sleeved about :shaft .|12 `and supported for rotation relative rthereto 'byswaycof @bearings .24 :is an iannular fdisc :member .or ele- .ment .25 Ahaving .iutwa'rcllyl extending --anges Y32S ,and ,.221 ywhich .dene hollow rcyli-nders, nach .such -cylinder ibeing internally toothed fasat 28 V.and

.129. Planet,gears.l1 andpIs-Sfareinfconstant mesh `with toothed portion 28nof disc'25.=s.o1that,nn Iresponse 4toeoperation :of imotor -2`3,11s|lanet, gears vITI and .I8 through toothed portion 28 4frotateldisc 25 `:relative :to shaft l2, lthe ilatter .remaining-.stationarys-under Athis condition. Thus, even though @planet -gears :|11 and :i8 'arerotating :in responseito motor operation, they simply drivedisc .25 rela- .tive :toeshaft y1,-2 andy thelatter; tcgetherfwith-.pulley fill r,and its cable, remains Ltixed u so that .there `fan absence .of :an effective driving .connection between motor23 and Apulley :I 0.

,.In order to establish aa driving rconnection be- .tween the `:motor andthe lpulley, ./novelvmeans l are provided for `flocking'lthe f discf25 against rotation so .that the planet .gears i151 and AH3 will creep or :ride on toothed v portionil 4to thereby angularly Adisplace:frame il'diand shaft fl"2therewith `whereby pulley )lill will fbe :also .displaced angularly :and thuszaimpart 'afcontrol 'force to its related control f surface. To-"this-endpthelclosedend of :housing with spur gears 32 and 33 to lock the latter against rotation whereupon disc 25 is also locked against rotation in which case spur gears Il and I8 are caused to creep or ride on toothed portion `28 of the disc and thus angularly displace frame I4 and shaft I2 so that a drivable connection is established between pulley I and motor 23.

The free ends of toothed links 3B and 3'! are pivotally interconnected through a pair of links 43 and 4I, the latter links, at their free ends, being connected at a common pivot 42 with a link 43 which is spaced from shaft I2 and which is connected to an actuating lever 44 pivoted on a hXed point 45. As will now be apparent, links 36, 3l, 43, 4I and 43 constitute a toggle mechanism which, in response to movement of lever 44 in one direction, is operative to have its links 4l! and 4I extended outwardly to force teeth 38 and 39 of links 36 and 31 into engagement with spur gears 32 and 33 to lock disc 25 against rotation. Movement of lever 44 in the opposite direction, on the other hand, collapses the toggle mechanism to release spur gears 32 and 33 whereby disc 25 is released for rotation by spur gears I'I and I8.

For operating lever 44, a solenoid 46 is provided having a plunger 4'! connected to the lever, the solenoid being connected by way of conductors 48 and 49 through a switch 5e with a suitable battery 5I. Closing of switch 5t, which may be located at or near the pilots control panel, energizes the solenoid to force plunger 41 inwardly whereupon lever 44 is forced inwardly to force the toggle mechanism and links 3S and 3'I to lock spur gears 32 and 33 and thereby establish the desired drivable connection. With the opening of switch 50, solenoid 4t is de-energized and lever 44 is urged by a spring 52 to an opposite direction to retract the toggle mechanism, unlock disc 25 and thus discontinue the drivable connection.

Pulley II) is shown as fixed or splined to shaft I2. However, if it is desired, an overpowering or emergency disconnect may also be provided in which event the internal periphery of the pulley would be provided with a notch engage-d by a roller carried by a spring pressed link, the latter being carried by the shaft, such provision vbeing more fully described and claimed in copending application Serial No. 542,063, led June 26, i944.

Assuming that the craft or other vehicle provided with an automatic steering system is being controlled automatically, i. e., motor 23 is drivably connected to pulley I0, and that a situation arises wherein it is desired to take over control manually and disconnect the motor from the pulley, the human pilot opens switch Sil which .de-energizes solenoid 46 whereupon the toggle mechanism is collapsed and links 36 and 3l' retracted from out of engagement with spur gears V32 and 33 so that disc 25 is released for rotation Although a solenoid operated toggle mechanism has been illustrated, the solenoid may be replaced by a cable connected to lever 44 which is accessible to the human pilot. A pull on the cable by the pilot will urge lever 44 inwardly to extend the toggle mechanism to lock the spur gears 32 and 33 and disc 25 whereupon motor drive is communicated through spur gears I'I and I8, frame I4 and shaft I2 to pulley II). By releasing the cable, lever 44 is urged in an opposite direction by spring 52 to retract the toggle mechanism and thereby unlock disc 25 for rotation by spul` gears I'I and I8 whereupon the drivable connection between the motor and pulley is readily terminated.

Although but a single embodiment of the present invention has been illustrated and described in detail, it is to be expressly understood that the invention is not limited thereto. Various chan-ges can be made in the design and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as will now be understood by those skilled in the art. For a denition of the limits of the invention, reference will be had primarily to the appended claims.

I claim:

l. In combination, a driving member, a driven member, a shaft for operating said driven member in accordance with the operation of said driving member, a support carried by said shaft, means comprising a planet gear journalled in said support for rotation relative to said shaft on an axis out of alignment with the axis of rotation of said shaft and driven by said driving member, a pair of spaced, interconnected and internally toothed annular gears sleeved on said shaft, one of said annular gears meshing with said planet gear for rotation thereby of both of said annular gears relative to said shaft, a spur gear engageable with the other of said annular gears and normally driven thereby, means for locking said spur gear against rotation whereupon both of said annular gears are held against rotation and said planet gear is caused to ride on said one annular gear to thereby drive said o shaft in accordance with the operation of said driving member, and means comprising a toggle mechanism for operating said locking means.

2. In combination, a driving member, a driven member, means comprising a shaft for operating said driven member in accordance with the operation of said driving member, a planet gear, a carrier supporting and connecting said planet gear for rotation to said shaft, said gear being driven by said driving member, internally toothed annular gear means sleeved on said shaft and meshing with said planet gear for rotation thereby relative to said shaft, a third gear means meshing with said annular gear means and journalled for rotation thereby in a support xed relative to said annular gear, means comprising a pawl for engaging and locking said third gear against rotation whereupon said annular gear means is likewise locked against rotation and said planet gear is caused to ride on said annular gear means to thereby drive said shaft in accordance with the operation of said driving member, and means comprising a toggle mechanism for operating said pawl.

3. In combination, a driving member, a driven member, means comprising a shaft for operating said driven member in accordance with the operation of said driving member, a planet gear, a carrier supporting and connecting said planet gear for rotation to said shaft, said gear being driven by said driving member, a hollow element comprising a pair of spaced internally toothed members sleeved on said shaft, one of said toothed members meshing with said planet gear for rotation thereby of both of said toothed members relative to said shaft, a second gear meshing with the other of said toothed members and journalled for rotation thereby in a support xed relative to said toothed members, and means comprising a solenoid operated toggle mechanism for locking said second gear against rotation whereupon said toothed members are likewise locked against rotation and said planet gear is caused to ride on said one toothed member to thereby drive said shaft in accordance with the operation of said driving member.

4. A reconnectable disconnect device comprising driving means and a driven member, means comprising a shaft for operating said driven member in accordance with the operation of said driving means, a planet gear, a carrier supporting and connecting said planet gear for rotation to said shaft, said gear being driven by said driving means, a hollow element sleeved on said shaft, a rst internally toothed gear carried by said hollow element for meshing with said planet gear for rotation thereby relative to said shaft, a second internally toothed gear carried by said hollow element, a housing surrounding said hollow element, a spur gear meshing with said second internally toothed gear and supported by said housing for rotation by said second toothed gear, a pawl for locking said spur gear against rotation whereupon both said first and second internally toothed gears are locked against rotation and said planet gear is caused to ride on said rst internally toothed gear to thereby drive said shaft in accordance with the operation of said driving means, and means for operating said pawl.

NORMAN B. MURPHY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Morrill NOV. 13, 1945 

